by Rick Church, Head Coach, CM Services, Inc. The Association Management Company

How Good Leaders Give Negative Feedback

Though we may always want to be positive and praise those who work with us, there are times when we must provide criticism. How a leader chooses to deliver that criticism makes a difference in whether they are a good leader or not.

I saw an interesting list today that was a perfect followup to my last post, “Don’t be a DM” – remember DM stands for De-Motivator. The article is titled, “Twenty Ways to Give Negative Feedback”.

Some of the ideas on this list may be obvious to you. Others may be new ideas. Here are a few that caught my attention.

1. Know the career goals of the recipient. (It makes sense right, if you are in tune with the career goals of the recipient, you will have a better idea what motivates them)

2. Tie negative behaviors and solutions to organizational values. (You can show your employee how this action didn’t line up with the values of the company AND what action would have lined up with those values)

3. Stick with one issue. More than one issue indicates you already failed in the past. (Keep it Simple)

4. Have examples. (Your employees may have a difficult time understanding concepts but if you give them concrete examples they see in their daily work, they will connect better with your message)

5. Speak directly and with kindness. (Two issues here: First, be clear and succinct with what you say; Second, be in control and be nice – the Golden Rule comes to mind – speak to them the way you’d like to be spoken to)

About Rick

Rick Church is Head Coach of CM Services, Inc. The Association Partnership Company. CM Services pioneered the concept of developing long-term partnerships with national and international trade associations and professional medical associations. Mr. Church has published articles and given presentations about association leaders (both volunteer and paid). Mr. Church served as president of the Association Management Company Institute (AMCi). While on AMCi's Board of Directors, Mr. Church was very involved in the development of the AMCi/ANSI standard for Association Management Companies and the AMCi certification program based on that standard.